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What better to go with my new Christopsmosos loaf? Plus, after a full day of bread baking, i am ready to take it easy with dinner. Joe made the dressing and i marinated and cooked the chicken. It would have been better grilled, but we don’t have access to one.

SALAD:

red lettuce

feta cheese

red onion

sliced sun dried tomato

kalamata olives

CHICKEN MARINADE:

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 T rosemary

1 T oregano

2 t thyme

1 t salt

Marinate the chicken for 8 hours (i only got in 3 1/2 and it was still good). Cook in a pan (scoop in some of the sliced garlic and rosemary as well) or on the grill for 15 minutes per side – or until golden brown.

Well, this serves me right. In preparation to make this bread – the second assignment of the BREAD BAKER’S APPRENTICE CHALLENGE – I had looked at other participants bread photos online. In comparison to the bread photographed in the book, i thought that the shape of the challenge members swirls were lacking. I thought to myself ‘this is going to be EASY – I am going to have the most gorgeous loaf of all!’ Although i had a great time shaping the loaf, it is clear to see that it was not as easy as i anticipated.

I actually took this Artos – Greek Celebration Bread* one step further to create Christopsomos. Don’t ask me to pronounce that. It is basically Greek Celebration Bread with some golden raisins, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts thrown in. I love bread with lots of stuff in it, and i love dried fruit, so i couldn’t resist. In fact, i was so antsy to add the fruit that i didn’t fully read the recipe instructions and put it in a step to early. I was supposed to kneed the dough for 8 full minutes before adding the goodies, but instead, i mixed it in before the dough was fully formed and kneaded it all together. This could be part of the reason why my dough did not fully double in the 1:45 that i allowed it to proof (it was only supposed to take 90 minutes).

I am waiting for Joe to come home to cut it up, so i will post more photos later!